That which we own, ends up pwning us...

So, I finalized the sale of my car today. While I was at my office, my girlfriend confirmed over the phone that my car was being driven away by it's new owner, on to a new life in some other town with new places to go. I wonder where it will travel to now?

I know where I will be traveling now. Straight to a place called "new-found financial freedom", that's where. Recently, I had become nauseated by the amount of money i was spending every month on my car. I owned it, had a loan out on it that i was

repaying every month, then suddenly the

"overhead" light in my brain suddenly came on. That familiar ding of the "open door" was loud a clear.

"My car is making me broke!"

I payed every imaginable cost for my vehicle over the 5 years i had it. Monthly payments, diesel fuel (it was a VW TDI, seen above), repairs, monthly parking fees at my building, oil changes, extra add-ons like rims and a sport shift knob (dumb idea), washes, waxes, taxes, the list goes on. And a lot of it was paid with a credit card that's balance has slowly bloated over the years.

I never batted an eyelash every time I shelled out hundreds of dollars ON TOP of the monthly payment was paying to just drive it. It always seemed normal. It needed to be done. "Everyone spends this much on repairs, right"?

Month in and month out I was frustrated balancing my budget and wondering why at the end of the month I never had any money to spend or save. "Where does it all go"?, I would ask. I consider my self to be a thrifty person. I live pretty well within my means. I do appreciate the finer things in life from time to time, and considering my annual salary, I feel I do pretty damn well with with what I earn. But in this current economy, it's hard enough just to keep pace let alone get ahead. I was not getting ahead.

My birthday was in April. Spring was in all it's glory. My girlfriend comes home with a birthday gift for me one day. A brand new

Specialized bicycle. It was a great present. I had been talking about getting one for a while but never had the extra cash (duh). Now it was here. So, just like a 10 year old kid on his new banana seat bike, (only

this time it was a sophisticated hybrid) I started riding. A ton. I found that pedaling around my neighborhood (I live in Stamford, CT which is a small but vibrant and rapidly growing city outside of NYC) and found that I could get from place to place much faster than I ever did in a car. I could get to my office in 12 minutes when it would take 20 in my car. This, my friends was a serious wake up call.

So, I started keeping the car parked all the time. Every time I headed out to the store or to visit friends, our weekly tennis lesson, or to the movies I'd take the bike. I started commuting to work everyday (weather permitting of course because riding in the rain is pretty dangerous) and loving it! I would get to work energized and ready to take on the day, looking forward to 5pm when i could blast home on my bike, easily coasting by all the drivers miserably stuck in traffic.

Now I consider my self a very good driver. However, when I am at the wheel of a car I often get surly, impatient, aggressive and generally annoyed. I can't help it. As hard as I try, traffic congestion, slow left-lane's (you know, those people who go 45 in the left lane on a highway or Parkway and refuse to merge to the right even though your clearly trying to pass them but they still don't move and force drivers to dangerously pass on the right? you know, those guys??), pedestrians, stalled vehicles all "drive" me up a wall when I need to get somewhere. But by biking everyday, I freed myself from an activity which would regularly leave me wound up and stressed by the time

I got to/from work. And my commute is only 2.5 miles!!! Now I return home, invigorated and in a great mood and a bit sweaty.

I know that 2.5 miles is ideal and most people don't have these luxuries. But driving a car was so ingrained in my own "life-vision" that it never seemed possible to exist without one. "Everyone has a car.", I thought. "If I don't own a car, I'm not a part of society". But, as i found, that is complete bullshit. It is possible to exist without owning a car.

It is an adjustment to your daily routine, though and I am lucky enough that my company has locker room facilities for me to shower before heading to my desk. But just by rearranging a few things I was able to make it easier and easier to bike everyday and live a bit better. Get daily exercise, improve my cardiovascular health, maybe get trimmer, without the "chore" of working out in a gym.

"But Driving a car is so convenient", they say but I don't think I buy that anymore. What's convenient about gridlock, pit stops, finding a place to put your vehicle when you get to your destination (usually at a price too!), people hitting, dinging, scratching your parked car, theft, vandalism, etc. Not to mention your passengers leaving everything from granola bar crumbs to vomit in you back seat. Let me assure you that I'm not a radical hippy who scoffs at the use of modern private transportation on moral grounds, I do understand that cars are necessary for everyday living for most people to do what they need to do. But let's face it. Is it a pleasure own and drive a car? I do know that when I first bought my car, I was in love. But as time goes on, loves fade away, I guess.

An Incredible Life

Daryl Powers at Toccoa

I was quietly surfing the Internet last night at my desk and my girlfriend, sitting on the couch, ogling her blackberry as usual, pipes up, "do you know who Daryl "Shifty" Powers is"? - I let go of the mouse and sat back in my chair. "Of course I know who Daryl "Shifty" Powers is. Why?"

"He's dead", she replied. I immediately turned my attention to the google to verify this troubling news. Sure enough, the information on the Internets confirmed that Daryl C. Powers, known as Shifty by his comrades had passed away on June 17th, 2009 at his home in Virgina.

"JUNE 17TH!!!?" - what the hell? That is a solid month

ago! What's more? Google news search returned only 3 stories about his passing. 3. Why is this? We'll get to that in a minute.

Staff Sargeant Daryl "Shifty" Powers became (somewhat) famous for his participation in the Second World War. His experiences are featured in the Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg production called "Band of Brothers" that aired in 10 parts on HBO in 2001. The series was created in tandem with Spielberg's Oscar-winning film "Saving Private Ryan" and in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the D-Day invasion. "Shifty", as

he will be referred to for the rest of this commentary, was 1 of 168 soldiers in Company E (Easy Company) of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) of the 101st Airborne Division. Their story is detailed in the miniseries.

Peter Youngblood Hills as Daryl "Shifty" Powers

Although, I never met Shifty, I feel like I know him. I was instantly captivated by Band of Brothers series and basically know the story of Easy Company and it's members inside and out. These individuals, most of whom came from very poor upbringings, joined the US Army in their teens and forged one of the most formidable fighting units of the war. The ones that survived, by their 22nd birthdays had seen the end of war in Europe, the horrors of the Holocaust and victory for the Allies in the most incredible human conflict in history. What incredible lives to have lived.

It makes me think about what impact my own life has or will have. Or will the experiences of my life enrich me in a satisfying way that i can look back with fulfillment.

My fascination with Easy Company was so powerful that in 2007, I twice traveled to Belgium and Germany (my girlfriend was working in Luxembourg at the time so that was the main reason). I visited Bastogne, the small Belgian cross-roads town were the 506th was surrounded and cut off by German forces from Dec 16th 1944 to Jan 4th, 1945. I was completely amazed. I visited the American Military Cemetery in Luxembourg, where 2 Easy Company soldiers featured in Band of Brothers, Skip Muck and Alex Penkala, are buried along side so many other fallen soldiers, one of which you may have heard of, General George S Patton. It was incredibly moving to see all these white crosses laying in the silence of the forest around us.

Shifty was involved in every operation that the 506th took part in for the entire war. He joined the unit at its formation at Camp Toccoa, Georgia in 1942. Trained with and received his jump wings with Easy under it's ruthless and sadistic Commanding officer, Capt. Herbert M. Sobel. He sailed away with the company to England in December of 1943 and trained in Aldbourne until Operation Overlord was given the green light in the early morning hours of Jun 6th, 1944. He jumped into France. Shifty took part in the fierce fighting in the Normandy breakout and helped Easy secure the town of Carentan against stiff opposition of the German Fallshrimjaeger troops. He was dropped into occupied Holland during the doomed Operation Market Garden, fought bravely in the Dutch countryside before the 506th was forced to retreat and regroup. He was surrounded at Bastogne in the frigid temperatures of the winter of 1944. He was at Hagenau. Shifty was at Landsberg, outside Munich, were the first signs of the Holocaust were revealed. Shifty helped capture Hitler's Eagle's Nest.

Now it bugs me that we can't go a step without being bombarded with news about Michael Jackson's death and a man like Shifty passes without a word from the mainstream press. I guess it should be expected in our modern time. If it weren't for the Band of Brothers series I may have never knew about Shifty or the others so I cannot deride the mass media all that much. However, how society measures greatness and great people is surely skewed, hence my short tribute here.

At a time where most of these great men who served in WWII are passing away, we need to remember them for their sacrifice and service. Now I'm not the trumpet blowing, America-is-the-greatest, flag waving type, but i cannot help but feel that the story of Shifty's life and all of the men who fought in WWII, provide an important example to us today. The example is that people are capable of amazing things if they believe in themselves and are wiling to do their duty for others.

I'm sure if you had asked Shifty if he thought of himself as a hero he would flatly deny it. He would surely say that the brothers that were left behind on the battlefield were the true heroes, or the men who landed at Omaha Beach on D-day, as he later would mention in a interview "They had it tough. I admire every one of'em". The truth is that Shifty was a hero. Even if only in the sense that he survived the war and remained to serve as a testament for those who died and to tell the world and the world would remember.

My heartfelt condolences go to the Powers Family. My he rest in peace. Currahee!!

All those Band of Brothers Fans out there please keep up the chatter on the net about these great individuals that are still with us.

From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother;

Willliam Shakespeare, King Henry V